Elmer Schleper

November 10, 1923 – September 25, 2011 Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 a.m. Saturday, October 1, 2011 at St. Martin Catholic Church in St. Martin for Elmer Schleper, 87, who died of cancer Sunday evening, at his home surrounded by family. Burial will be at 2:00 p.m. Saturday at the St. Catherine Cemetery in Farming. A visitation for Elmer will be from 4:00 – 9:00 p.m. Friday at the Wenner Funeral Home in Richmond. Visitation will continue from 9:30 – 11:00 a.m. Saturday morning at the St. Martin Catholic Church. Elmer was born in Farming on November 10, 1923 to Herman and Mary (Dingmann) Schleper. He graduated from Albany High School in 1943 and played baseball, football, basketball, and also boxed in high school. He served as baseball player/coach his senior year at Albany. He was an avid supporter of Albany High School athletics until his death. On September 17, 1951, Elmer married Marcelline Weidner in St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, Regal. Elmer was a farmer his entire life; he and Marcelline took over the family farm west of Farming. He was a member of St. Catherine’s Catholic Church all his life until the church closed in May, 2011. He sang in the St. Catherine’s choir for over 50 years, had been a lector at St. Catherine’s, and was a member and past officer of St. Catherine Catholic Aid Society. Elmer was a charter member and past Grand Knight of the Fr. Pierz Council of the Knights of Columbus. He had been a member of the Stearns Electric Assn. Trust Board, and was a member of the St. Martin Lions and Farming Sportsmen’s Clubs. Elmer was actively involved in central Minnesota baseball and was one of the original members of the Farming amateur baseball team, which was founded in 1938. He was the manager of the team for 23 years and played amateur baseball for 45 years. In 1982 Elmer was inducted into the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame. He was also a member of the Farming Baseball Hall of Fame and the Albany High School Huskies Hall of Fame. He served as a baseball and softball umpire for the Minnesota State High School League for 37 years. Survivors include Elmer’s children: Ramona (Jim) Myott, Minneapolis; Anna Marie (Ron) Jonas, Jacobs Prairie; Janice (Don) Lokken, Ramsey; Theresa Gillespie, Fort Worth, Texas; Patricia (Bruce) Bechtold, St. Joseph; Michael (Assia), Farming; Stephen (Barb), Colorado Springs, Colorado; Beverly, Champlin; Suzanne, St. Cloud; Peter (Heide), Avon; Jacquelyn (Tom) Humphrey, Elk River; sister, Hildegard Mehr, Farming, and 22 grandchildren. Elmer was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Marcelline; son-in-law, Bob Gillespie; sister, Leona Schaefer, and brothers, Raymond, Albert, Urban, Paul, Edmund, and Joseph. Memorials are preferred.

Elmer Schleper

November 10, 1923 - October 1, 2011